Rathskeller concert to feature alternative pop group Smallpools

After a year hiatus, Hurricane Productions (HP) is bringing back the Rathskeller concert. This year, the student organization is catering to alternative pop fans. After a week of anticipation, HP Concerts revealed today that Smallpools will perform.

To create buzz for the return of the Rat concert, the HP Concerts social media accounts teased the concert by posting 5 “UClues” for the past week. The captioned photos hinted at the artist by alluding to song titles and lyrics.

As a prize for playing along, HP Concerts promised a meet and greet pass for the first person to guess the correct artist. On Facebook, it only took two days for a student to figure it out. Ernest Barrall commented “Smallpools” on a picture of a mason jar. “Mason Jar” is the title of one of the group’s songs off its self-titled EP, released in 2013.

HP Concerts typically brings rap, hip-hop and EDM artists to campus, so the choice of Smallpools diverges from this trend. “This year we decided on Smallpools because they are a popular alternative act,” said Kyle Gordon, the chair of HP Concerts. “I personally believe that it has been a couple years too many since we have booked an alternative act at our schools.”

An indie-pop band based out of Los Angeles, California, Smallpools’ music is reminiscent of Walk the Moon, and the group’s radio single “Dreaming” is frequently mistaken for Passion Pit.

The band has performed on many college campuses, most recently at University of Iowa. The band members are known for being energetic live, once throwing blow-up killer whales into the crowd while performing, appropriately, the song “Killer Whales.”

When asked about the band, most students either seem not to have heard of Smallpools or just know the group’s current radio single.

“I don’t know them that well, I only know ‘Dreaming.’ I’m curious to hear their other songs other than the one on the radio,” said Jenn Gamarra, a junior biomedical engineering student.

Gordon said that HP Concerts believed the Rat would be the perfect venue for the concert. “According to our polls, the students who prefer alternative music are not in the majority, so we feel that a more intimate venue like the Rat, which holds 800, will be the perfect space to hold this show and satisfy these students.”

For students that aren’t familiar with Smallpools, an intimate concert right on campus will give them the opportunity to broaden their music horizons. And for students who are alternative pop fans, they’ll be right at home, getting a break in the routine from usual rap, hip-hop or EDM performance artists.

This year’s Rathskeller concert will be held 8:30-11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 at the University of Miami Rathskeller on the Coral Gables campus. Free tickets will be given out in the breezeway starting Wednesday, Feb. 1.

For more information on the Rathskeller concert and HP Concerts, follow HP Concerts’ updates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

TMH Twitter

About TMH

The Miami Hurricane is the student newspaper of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. The newspaper is edited and produced by undergraduate students at UM and is published weekly in print on Tuesdays during the regular academic year.